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Problems seeing wireless networks in Leopard? Remove non-ASCII characters

Especially for third-party routers.

CNET staff

Use of non-ASCII characters in the names of wireless networks -- especially with third-party wireless routers -- can result in said networks not showing up in the AirPort menu. In order to resolve this issue, simply remove the non-ASCII characters.

As written by MacFixIt reader Calle Backstrom:

"Concerning wireless networking in Leopard: Before upgrading, I could login to a network with the letter ä in it's name, even though I was never logged in automatically. The letter showed up as a question mark in the list of available networks. In Leopard, the network didn't appear at all (though it could be seen with, for example, Coconut Wifi). Eventually the name of the network was changed into a low-ASCII-name, and Leopard logs in (automatically as well) without problems. The router, for what it matters, is a crappy D-Link of some model"

To configure your third-party router's name from a Mac:

  1. Select the router from the AirPort menubar item or within Internet Connect (located in /Applications). The router is usually named after the manufacturer, e.g. "Belkin," "Linksys," or something like "Untitled."
  2. Open a browser and enter the address 192.168.1.1. If one browser doesn't work, try another. Some routers, for instance, cannot be properly configured through Safari, but can through Firefox.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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